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“Typhoid” Mary is brought to life in this compelling work of historical fiction. Mary Mallon emigrates to New York from Ireland on the eve of the 20th century, where she works her way up from being a lowly laundress to a respected cook. A tough, independent woman, Mary is sought after by rich and powerful families in the city for her cooking skills. But, as she moves from family to family, a chilling pattern emerges. Although Mary enjoys robust good health, family members and their staffs seem unusually prone to the fevers and ill health associated with typhoid, and the weakest succumb to the disease.
One determined “medical engineer” doggedly researches her movements and identifies her as an “asymptomatic carrier” of the deadly sickness, making her a hunted woman. Mary is arrested and moved to an isolated island where ill New Yorkers are quarantined. She is eventually released, but forbidden to work as a cook. Her stubborn refusal to believe the truth about herself leads her to seek jobs under assumed names, and to evade the regular testing she has been ordered to endure. The disease continues to spread wherever she goes.
As her story unfolds, early 20th-century Manhattan comes alive. Mary is a fiercely dramatic character who captures your imagination and sympathy, even as you wish for a happy ending that will never come true.
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